Cape Hall Of Fame Manager John Schiffner On How The League Has Changed

BREWSTER – John Schiffner, the former manager of the Chatham Anglers, has seen a lot of Cape Cod baseball. He’s been associated with Cape baseball for 51 years, giving him one of, if not the most, expansive and authoritative perspectives on the league. 

This year, Schiffner, a Cape Hall of Famer, serves as an assistant coach for the Brewster Whitecaps. Over that half century span in which Schiffner played for the Harwich Mariners, managed the Anglers to more than 500 wins and coached for the Falmouth Commodores and Whitecaps, the league, to be sure, has changed quite a bit. The players are different. The game is different. But it’s still the best college summer league in the country.

“When I was a player, I was in awe of the league and the kids that I played with and against, and I still am,” Schiffner said. “Every night, you're just looking for that great play or great pitch or great hitter.”

In general, the athletes that come to the Cape are physically different from the ones that did when Schiffner played for the Mariners in the ‘70s. Players today stick to strict weight and training regimens. Teams have full-time conditioning staffers. In Schiffner’s playing days, he said, there might be a guy that came over, looked at a player and said something like “Alright, yeah, do a few more push-ups.”

“The physical athlete has changed,” Schiffner said. “He has really changed. You didn't see too many six-foot-five, 225-pound pitchers back in those days, and you didn't see an Aaron Judge playing the outfield, so the athlete has changed.” 

Certainly, the influx of money into college sports — going both into the industry but also to the players themselves — has something to do with the shifts in the league over time. Speaking in strict generalities, Schiffner said the player today is a little more entitled. In past decades, players worked jobs when they were on the Cape. Not so at this point. 

Also, the increase in private coaching and travel ball — and the subsequent decrease in American Legion and Senior Babe Ruth ball — has resulted in a dip in baseball IQ, according to Schiffner, a two-time Manager of the Year award winner on the Cape.

“As a whole, I think that's a big difference, was that the kids were a little more prepared,” he said. “They were coached and had to play the game a lot better. A lot of these guys, they're strong as oxes, and they’ve got great arms. They can field the ground ball. They can throw the ball, but I find that some of them don't know how to run the bases properly.”

One other small change over the years: the fields are kept in better condition, according to Schiffner. In 1978, his first season working as a coach in Chatham, the team’s tractor broke down. The head coach at the time, Ed Lyons, looked at Schiffner and said, “Hey, you got one of those little sports cars. Get it out there.” Schiffner had an MG BGT, and so he dragged the field in his British sportscar.

Another difference that has emerged over the decades Schiffner has been in the Cape League is the significant roster turnover every team now deals with as players play part but not all of the summer season. That forces teams to cycle through dozens of players as pitchers and hitters come to the Cape for a couple weeks, maybe a month, then leave.

Schiffner’s generation of players, on the other hand, didn’t want to even go home once they were on the Cape. They’d even play hurt just to be able to stay, he said. The season was longer and stretched out, so there were more off days and more time to enjoy the area. Players would meet at clubs like the Mill Hill, Compass Lounge and Brothers Four. They didn’t want to leave. It’s not something heard anymore, according to Schiffner.

“Now they play late, and they get home,” he said. “Most of these guys are on a physical regime of exercise, weight, conditioning and so forth, and they don't get a chance to go striper fishing. They don't get a chance to go out for bluefish. They don’t get a chance to just go visit Provincetown or go to Nauset Beach instead of our beaches around here. It's just that has changed considerably as far as what they're doing now.”

Even with all the changes and differences — the shifting tides of the Cape League — Schiffner has witnessed over the years, there’s one definite throughline: this is where the best college baseball players in the country come every summer.

The list of players Schiffner has managed or seen on the Cape, his memories of them, is a who’s who baseball standouts and grinders, from specimens like Judge to legends like Billy Wagner and Jason Varitek to guys Schiffner didn’t even think would make the big leagues, like Jason Bay and Garrett Hampson.

There’s always been a balance on the Cape between developing talent, showcasing it to scouts and simply winning ballgames for the fans and organizations. That hasn’t changed for Schiffner, who won two championships as manager of the Chatham Anglers.

“The balance is, if your kids are working hard and getting better, they should be helping you win games, and by winning games and being around some great teammates, you're going to have the best summer of your life, so it's a nice blend,” Schiffner said.

“That was one of the things I always said: get better. Leave here better than when you got here. Help us win games, and if you help us win games, you're going to get better and then have the best summer of your life. And I've had 51 best summers of my life.”